Finley is going to be in second grade in the fall. She had a difficult year with changes in her vision, so she is going to repeat the second grade. The team at school and her parents decided that with her having difficulty learning print and braille and trying to keep up, it would be better to give her another year to become a more confident learner.

Finley's central vision loss increased a few more degrees, and her peripheral vision field shrank 5 degrees. Her vision in the areas she has left is 20/200 in her weaker eye and 20/100 in her better eye. She almost exclusively uses her right eye to see because her left eye has become so weak. There isn't anything that can be done about the loss at this time. The only thing that will work is a cure.

Finley is learning braille and becoming more and more proficient at reading and writing it. She is using a cane but does not use it consistently, because she hates it.

She enjoys art and painting. She also loves running and is participating in a track and field camp this summer with her sighted peers. She has started a ballet/tap/jazz class that she will continue through the next year.

More than anything, Finley just wants to be like everyone else. She doesn't want to stand out among her peers or have people feel sorry for her. She has shown that even with her limited vision, she is still able to do almost everything her friends can do.

“We hope that this spirit continues as her vision diminishes. And we hope the cure comes in time before she loses it all,” her mother Jennifer Pletcher said.

In 2010, the nonprofit foundation RDH12 Fund for Sight was developed by Finley's parents, Jennifer and Mat Pletcher, who are originally from the Connellsville area, and three other families.

Today the organization is 21 kids and 19 families strong.

The group recently donated $350,000 for RDH12 research to Dr. Debra Thompson at the University of Michigan.

Locally, Finley's Fighters has been doing its part in the fight.

The organization is determined that Finley and others like her can keep their eyesight.

“Mat and a few of the other families, and their affected kids, met with Dr. Thompson and our researcher in England — Dr. Robert Ali — in the spring of this year. It was the first time that the researchers had a chance to meet the children in person. Both doctors stated that the kids inspired them to work even harder for a cure,” said Finley's mother, Jennifer Pletcher, who is the daughter of Ted and Phyllis Kovall of Connellsville.

“Right now the research is progressing as planned. Dr. Thompson is confident that this fall we will be going to the FDA to discuss what they will be looking for to approve a clinical trial. Dr. Thompson feels she has all the information/research necessary to go forward with that meeting,” Jennifer Pletcher said.

Clinical trials will be near the end of 2015 or the beginning of 2016 if all goes well. The biggest hurdle is money. While the RDH12 Fund for Sight has raised $1.2 million for research, Jennifer Pletcher said another $1.6 million must be raised for the clinical trials to begin. She said this year will be the biggest push ever made by the group, and it realizes it won't be easy.

“It is going to be hard. We are going to need the support of all of our friends and family and strangers, and businesses, and friends of friends to get this done,” said Jennifer Pletcher.

In order to help, the 4th Annual Finley's Fighters 10K, 5K and 1⁄2 mile fun run fundraiser will be held Saturday at Yough River Park.

The 1⁄2 mile race begins at 8:50 a.m. The 10K run begins at 9:15 a.m. and the 5K run and walk begin at 9:20 a.m.

Lunch starts at 10:45 a.m. and the event ends at 12:30 p.m.

Now through race day, registration prices are $25/person or $70/family (of 3 or more) and registrants receive a shirt, goody bag, bag check and food. Children younger than 3 are free for food and registration (no shirt). Checks can be made out to RDH12 Fund for Sight.

All kids younger than 18 will receive a hand-carved medal no matter which race they run. There will be a bounce house, hair feathers, face painting, music and a basket raffle including a handmade Elsa Princess dress from Frozen, an American Girl doll, tickets to a Pittsburgh Penguins game, a Connellsville basket featuring an overnight stay at the Connellsville Bed and Breakfast and gift certificate from Cafe Carnegie, a toy basket, a Kindle basket, a gardening basket, a lottery ticket tree and many more. Pre-sale chances and photos of the baskets are on the Finley's Fighters Facebook page.

“If you don't want to race, just come with your family and enjoy the activities and help us help Finley,” said grandmother Phyllis Kovall.

Those who are unable to attend the event, but would like to make a donation, can make a check out to RDH12 Fund for Sight and mail it to: Phyllis Kovall, 1231 Sycamore St., Connellsville, PA 15425. For credit card donations, please visit: http://www.rdh12.org/donating.html.

The RDH12 Fund for Sight members have decided to start a campaign this fall called One for a Million (www.1foramillion.com).

The website explains how the RDH12 Fund for Sight journey began toward a cure for genetic blindness.

With the campaign, the group is asking for only two things — a single dollar and help spreading the word and work of the RDH12 Fund for Sight.

TribLive commenting policy

You are solely responsible for your comments and by using TribLive.com you agree to our Terms of Service.

We moderate comments. Our goal is to provide substantive commentary for a general readership. By screening submissions, we provide a space where readers can share intelligent and informed commentary that enhances the quality of our news and information.

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderating decisions are subjective. We will make them as carefully and consistently as we can. Because of the volume of reader comments, we cannot review individual moderation decisions with readers.

We value thoughtful comments representing a range of views that make their point quickly and politely. We make an effort to protect discussions from repeated comments  either by the same reader or different readers.

We follow the same standards for taste as the daily newspaper. A few things we won't tolerate: personal attacks, obscenity, vulgarity, profanity (including expletives and letters followed by dashes), commercial promotion, impersonations, incoherence, proselytizing and SHOUTING. Don't include URLs to Web sites.

We do not edit comments. They are either approved or deleted. We reserve the right to edit a comment that is quoted or excerpted in an article. In this case, we may fix spelling and punctuation.

We welcome strong opinions and criticism of our work, but we don't want comments to become bogged down with discussions of our policies and we will moderate accordingly.

We appreciate it when readers and people quoted in articles or blog posts point out errors of fact or emphasis and will investigate all assertions. But these suggestions should be sent via e-mail. To avoid distracting other readers, we won't publish comments that suggest a correction. Instead, corrections will be made in a blog post or in an article.

Print Source

Welcome to PrintSource, a division of Trib Total Media.

We have established a veteran team that provides daily and weekly newspaper companies with a comprehensive set of services that include design, print, packaging and delivery of their products, all from one source and location.

Gone are the days when each facet of newspaper printing and delivery had to be outsourced to different companies and venues. Now, PrintSource provides a viable solution with just one phone call.

Digital Sales

We offer a wide variety of traditional and new digital advertising options customized to fit your needs!

Whether you're just starting out, or you've been a keystone in the community for years, our knowledgeable staff can provide you with a customized package including online banners/advertisements, Social Media Marketing (Facebook / Twitter), Website development, Search Engine Optimization, Email Marketing solutions and much more!

Contact your local sales rep today for details, personalized proposal and a meeting to discuss how we can meet your needs.